


a proposition for you (on one condition)

by DreamBrother



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27112136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamBrother/pseuds/DreamBrother
Summary: “Whenyou move back to Jersey?’ Steve repeats.“Yeah, what about it?” Danny asks, a crease appearing between his eyebrows, and where Steve would normally find it endearing, at the moment he just finds it infuriating.Which is why Steve realizes, upon reflection, all his SEAL-honed tact goes out the window and he replies:“There will be nowhen, Danny. You’re not moving back to Jersey. Period.”
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 20
Kudos: 348





	a proposition for you (on one condition)

**Author's Note:**

> I've been in a writing rut for the past few weeks because work has been, in one word, exhausting. And I've always wanted to do more one-shots under 3k. This is not my best work, and very much just stems from one line of dialogue with the title my sad attempt at a play on words which no one will get...I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!
> 
> Set roughly Season 7 ish. Simpler times.

The word hits Steve out of nowhere which, frankly, he finds a bit insulting considering all he’s been doing is sipping a beer and listening to Danny rant.

“... so when I move back to Jersey, I’ll still be able to have winter wear I can fit into because I refuse to shell out another two hundred bucks for…”

“Wait, what?” Steve interrupts. Rudely, yes, but he thinks he’s justified after what has just come out of Danny’s mouth with no warning whatsoever.

‘What what?” Danny asks, a bit dumbly in Steve’s uncharitable but honest opinion, but he is gracious enough to not voice that thought aloud, choosing instead to focus on the more pertinent matter at hand:

“ _When_ you move back to Jersey?’ Steve repeats.

“Yeah, what about it?” Danny asks, a crease appearing between his eyebrows, and where Steve would normally find it endearing, at the moment he just finds it infuriating.

Which is why Steve realizes, upon reflection, all his SEAL-honed tact goes out the window and he replies:

“There will be no _when_ , Danny. You’re not moving back to Jersey. Period.”

Satisfied that he’s made his point clear, Steve takes a long sip of his beer and goes back to looking out onto the ocean, the view from his backyard as familiar as the feel of the man sitting by him on the second of the two deckchairs.

Who is yet to say a word. Whose eyes Steve can feel on him as sure as the warmth from the sun rays on his skin.

Annoyed, Steve glances over at his partner and sure enough, Danny is looking straight at him, the crinkle between his eyes a now permanent feature on his face. Steve resists the urge to reach out and smooth it with his thumb if only to do his partner a solid and prevent premature lines from carving a place on his face.

“What?”

“You’ve got some nerve, you know that?” Danny asks, except Steve gets the feeling he isn’t really asking.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. You fucking pain in my ass. What gives you the right?”

“The right? The right what?” Steve asks, feeling a crease appear between his own eyebrows in sympathy with his partner. Damn it. He makes a conscious effort to smooth his features because he refuses to have wrinkles on his face before Grace makes Danny a grandfather in the hopefully distant future.

“To tell me if I can, or cannot, move back home.”

Steve snorts. In hindsight, maybe he shouldn’t have, but it’s too late now, and even worse, words are spilling out his mouth which stokes the fire that’s been lit. He blames Danny for lighting the match with his comment earlier.

“Danny, come on. ‘Home’? Jersey isn’t your home anymore. Your home is here.”

By here, Steve knows Danny thinks he means Hawaii. Danny has no clue that Steve is in fact referring to a very specific part of Hawaii, of Oahu, of Piikoi Street. And if he wants to keep Danny’s friendship, it’s in Steve’s interests to not let Danny find out that minor piece of information.

“You’re a control freak.”

Steve opens his mouth to respond, ready to launch into a classic Steve-and-Danny argument that will fill the time between now and the pizza they’d ordered ten minutes ago arriving, except Danny does what he does best.

He surprises Steve.

Except this time, it’s not because he’s punched Steve across his face, or spoken Russian, or flown to Afghanistan or North-fucking-Korea to save Steve’s ass.

This time, he downs his beers and without another word, he gets up and walks towards the house.

It takes Steve too long to realize that Danny hasn’t just got gone back in to grab another round. The faint sound of the Camaro’s engine starting up makes Steve jerk upright and even though he legs it to the front of the house, by the time Steve gets to the driveway, Danny's gone. Running out onto the street, he just about spots the red tail lights of the Camaro as Danny turns left at the end of the road.

"Fuck," Steve mumbles. He's still standing on the street when the pizza delivery guy shows up with the half pepperoni half Hawaiian pie Danny had ordered for the two of them via the app Grace had downloaded on his phone.

* * *

Danny knows his partner. He knows that the first place Steve will look after he realises that Danny hasn't gone straight home is the lookout. So Danny deliberately avoids it, as well as avoiding that errant thought that he doesn't doubt, not even for a second, that his partner will come looking for him. He'd feel a touch ashamed of himself for just walking out on Steve over ultimately a fairly stupid but innocuous comment, but he figures if his partner can act like a child, then so can he.

He's been driving around aimlessly for about twenty minutes when his phone beeps. Telling himself it might be one of the kids, he pulls over to the side of the road.

Grabbing his phone, he taps the screen and then huffs: it's a notification from the pizza place asking him if he enjoyed his pizza and if so, would he mind leaving a review on the food delivery app he used to order said pizza?

Putting his phone away, he restarts the car and merges back into traffic, a destination now fixed in his mind.

It's rush hour, which is why Danny's just recently been handed his order from one of Rainbow's servers when the passenger side door opens and Steve throws himself into the seat, closing the door with a decisive slam, as though the louder he is, the less likely it is that Danny will make him leave.

Biting back a sigh, Danny silently hands over the plate of Loco Moco he’s ordered, rolling his eyes at the look of surprise on Steve's face. With one hand now free, Danny clicks on the radio and they listen to a classic rock station blaring out Led Zeppelin, Meat Loaf and Foreigner as they eat, Danny digging into his Mahi Mahi plate whilst Steve sniffs the Loco Moco as though searching for any laxatives Danny might have snuck into his food. He either must think it’s safe, or he is too hungry to care because soon enough he’s shovelling heaps of hamburger, rice and gravy into his mouth. It’s a testament to the tension between them that Steve doesn’t even try and nab a few fries from Danny’s plate, as is his won’t each time they’ve come to Rainbow.

When they both finish, Steve grabs the empty plates and dirty plastic cutlery and leaves the car, only to return five minutes later with a styrofoam container loaded with a generous serving of Rainbow's classic sweet bread French toast, cut into bite-sized pieces, two forks sticking out of the syrup-doused dough. Steve holds the plate in his left hand over the gear stick as he and Danny alternate picking and eating the rich food.

Soon enough, the plate is finished and Steve once again leaves the car, only this time to return with a takeaway cup of coffee in each hand. Danny accepts his cup with a grunt, and it takes a few sips of hot coffee before he breaks the silence.

"What'd you do with the pizza?" Danny asks, his voice quiet even as the first notes of Queen’s _The Show Must Go On_ begins to play on the radio.

"Gave it to my neighbour's kid, three doors down,” Steve replies, just as softly even as his fingers begin tapping the beat of the song on his knee. “He's the running back for my old high school team; his mum is always complaining that he never stops eating."

"You drive here?"

"Nah, got an Uber."

Danny says nothing. Placing his coffee in the cupholder, he turns the key in the ignition, causing Steve to awkwardly reach for his seatbelt whilst keeping ahold of his own coffee, and less than fifteen minutes later, Danny's pulling up at the lookout.

Rain has begun to fall, a standard quick Hawaiian shower that will drench everything before the sun comes out as though it had never been gone at all. They sit in silence, listening to the latter of raindrops on the metal roof of the Camaro, drinking their coffee, when this time, Steve speaks up.

"I'm not gonna apologize."

Danny snorts, although the sound lacks any humour.

"Then why'd you come find me?"

"Because I'm never gonna be able to just let you go. Isn't that the problem?"

"Steve," Danny sighs. "Come on. We both know that I can't stay here forever."

"And why the hell not?"

"Because… Hawaii isn't my home. I only came here for Grace. And a day will come when she and Charlie might leave, and I'll either be too old or too injured to work for Five-O and then I'll have nothing left here for me."

Danny doesn't miss the flash of hurt across his partner's face, and it causes a weight to settle in his stomach. "What?" he presses when Steve doesn't say anything for a minute.

"Where am I in this future you've imagined for yourself, huh? Dead?"

Danny shoots Steve a sharp look. "If you're dead then chances are so am I." Danny shrugs and looks back out the windscreen, watching pellets of rain run down the glass in steady streams. "Figured by then you'd be married with kids of your own to worry about."

"And what if I didn't get married and have kids of my own? Would you stay?"

"Steve. Come on."

"Answer the question, Danny."

"It's not that simple."

"It is that simple. It's a yes or no question. I want you to stay in Hawaii, with me."

"Don't you want a family, huh? I've seen the way you are with Grace and Charlie. You don't want that with Lynn or Ca-." Danny stops himself from finishing the name but it's too late, he sees his partner flinch. "Sorry."

Steve's waves a hand, as though it was enough to erase Danny's mistake.

" _You_ are my family, Danno. And now you're telling me that after all this time, you still see Hawaii as a temporary thing."

Danny doesn't respond immediately, instead trying to hear what his partner is trying to say beyond the words.

"I didn't think it would be such a big deal to you, Steve. Honestly."

"Yeah, well… guess we both know where we stand now." Steve holds out his hand. "Give me the keys, I'll drive us back."

"We're not done here."

"Yes, we are. There's nothing more to say. You've made your point: as soon as your kids leave the island, you'll be gone too. Got it."

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like a jilted…"

Steve snorts. "Like a jilted lover? I wish."

"You wish?"

"I said what I said."

"But what do you mean?"

Steve huffs. "Don't play the fool, Danny. I think I've made myself pretty clear."

"You really haven't though," Danny says with a frown except it's either his tone, his face, his words, or a combination of all three but Steve glances at him for all of a microsecond before he's opening the passenger side door and getting out of the car, the rain immediately turning the shoulders of his light blue shirt a dark navy.

"What the-where are you going?" Danny yells out, the sound of the rain loud now that the door is open to the outside, breaking the cocoon they’d been in.

Steve leans down so he can look directly at Danny. "I need some fresh air. You go home, Danny. I'll see you at work." And with that, Steve slams the door shut.

* * *

So lost in his own head, Steve barely notices the rain drenching his clothes, too intent on creating some distance between him and his partner, an irony not lost on Steve considering it was Danny's desire for distance - from Steve, from Hawaii, from his life these past seven years, and Steve's desire to keep Danny close that had led to this night going to hell in a handbasket. It had been meant to be a standard Friday evening, cooling out with Danny, some beers and a pizza. All it had taken was one particular word from Danny to throw it into disarray.

_When_ he'd move to Jersey. Not even an if, in deference to Steve's feelings. _When_.

A hand wraps around his wrist and it's only because he knows the feel of his partner's hand, gun callouses and all, better than his own that stops Steve from turning around and throwing a punch at whoever had the nerve to grab a Navy Seal without so much as a by your leave.

“Steve."

Steve sighs, turns around and looks his partner dead in the eye, annoyed at himself for putting that expression on Danny's face, a mixture of confusion and sorrow.

"Danny, just go, alright? There's nothing more to say."

"But what if I don't wanna go?"

Steve frowns, confusion marring his own features now as he realises that Danny isn’t talking about going back to his house. "But you just said you wanted to go."

"I've changed my mind."

"You've changed your mind."

"Yeah, I've changed my mind.”

"Why have you changed your mind?” Steve challenges, for once not having the patience to wait out his mercurial partner. “I've spent seven years trying to change your mind."

"That's because you've spent the last seven years trying to get me to fall in love with the island."

"Are we gonna have that fight again?” Steve sighs, trying to tug his wrist out of Danny’s grip except his partner just holds on tighter. “Danny, for the last time, no one goes to Jersey to vacation, okay? Everyone in Jersey wants to be here, in Hawaii, except _you_." It had been seven years since they first had that argument in Danny’s car, caused by the postcard of New Jersey that Danny kept in the visor next to the school picture of Grace, and it feels like nothing Steve has done in the intervening years has made the slightest difference.

"That's not enough for me."

"Danno… what more could I have possibly done? Tell me.” Because he’s got time, Steve tells himself. Grace is still in high school, although very soon she’s gonna start seriously at colleges, and Charlie is only five years old. Assuming Rachel and Stan don’t decide to move to the mainland, Steve figures he has time to change Danny’s mind, and if Danny can just give him some hints on what Steve needs to do, he’ll do it. Except his partner doesn’t seem willing to play ball.

"Nothing."

"I don't understand,” admits Steve after a moment, feeling the beginnings of a headache as Danny continues to trample Steve’s nerves.

"That's because you are a Neanderthal, babe." A strange expression, one that Steve is unused to seeing on Danny, crosses his partner's face as he steps closer to Steve, close enough that the taller man can count the raindrops caught in his partner's eyelashes as he just stands there, dumbly.

"All this time you've been trying to make me fall in love with the island, you've completely failed to notice that you got me to fall in love with you."

"Danny,” Steve rasps, quiet enough for Danny to ignore him and keep speaking:

“And assuming I haven't read too much into you having a piss fit over me leaving the island, I'm thinking it's not the island you don't want me to leave… it's you."

Steve gives into temptation, his thumb finally reaching up to smooth the crease between Danny's eyebrows that have appeared when Steve doesn’t immediately respond to Danny's deduction. His other hand reaches up to cup Danny's face to keep him in place.

"Hey, Danno,” he says when he’s fairly confident that his voice won’t betray him.

"What?"

"I'll make you a deal." Steve smiles when his words cause his partner to roll his eyes, even as he moves his thumb to wipe away the water that has collected in Danny’s lashes.

"What's the deal?"

"I'll go to Jersey on vacation as many times are you like but on one condition: you'll always come back home with me."

Danny smiles, the movement of his lips too tempting for Steve to not trace with his thumb.

"Deal."

**Author's Note:**

> By hook or by crook, I will finish 'darling, feel better love' by November. You have my word!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this fic; kudos/comments = digital love (because they involve the use of your digits... gettit? Okay, that was terrible, I'll go now).


End file.
